Hero
by BiSi Louise
Summary: John and Gordon, who at this point in time are eleven and six respectively, are kidnapped and held for ransom. However, nobody would have predicted the lengths John would go to in order to protect his younger brother. (My First Fanfic)
1. Chapter 1

John woke up from the light engulfing the room through the window that was too high for them to reach. He had tried to look at the skies through it the night before, searching for the right angle to see the stars, but hadn't been able to actually see them. Light pollution, he suspected, or the window was just to dirty for the little dots to be visible. It was not like he could check.

He carefully manoeuvred himself of the small matrass, making sure the little redheaded boy next to him wouldn't wake, and pulled the blankets up so the kid would be warm and comfortable.

John reached for the backpack, containing their only possessions in this small room, and took out a pen. He moved into another position and pulled down his boxers a bit so he could add another small stripe on his thigh, next to the two that were already there: Day three. Then he checked his other thigh if the message was still there. He added some more ink to make sure it would stay visible.

 _We love you Daddy, Scotty, Virgie and Allie. And Grandma._

He hadn't told Gordon what the message really meant. He had said it was like a tattoo and Gordon had thought it was cool. He didn't need to know what the words really meant. It was only a precaution anyway. They would be home in no time.

John wasn't meant to be here, but he didn't mind. He didn't know what had come over him when he had jumped into the man's car, back at the park, but he knew he would do it again. He had known he couldn't take on a fully-grown man on his own. Scott might have tried, but would have lost and then thrown to the side and been forced to watch the kidnapper get away with his younger brother. John, with his fast-working mind, had tried something a little different. When he had recovered form the shock of seeing a stranger lifting his sleeping little brother in the back of a van -Gordon hadn't been sleeping at first but John knew criminals could make that happen- he had chosen for another sort of approach. Help had been to far away to reach Gordon in time, so screaming would only cause the man to hurry. John had taken off in a sprint and did what no other boy would ever do: He literally jumped into a kidnappers car.

He had entangled himself with Gordon before the kidnapper had been over his initial surprise. And only then, he had started to scream.

This had given the kidnapper several options. He could dump both boys and get away, get caught trying to separate them or drive off with the both of them. He had chosen the latter, but John had known he would. It had been quite a stupid move on his part, but at least now Gordon wouldn't be alone when he woke up. After all Gordon had never been abducted before.

But John had been.

He didn't remember much of those few days. Most of the time he had been intertwined with Scott. They'd been six and eight at the time. The kidnappers, there had been two: a man and his wife, had tried to separate them once, but it hadn't worked out very well. There had been crying, screaming and fighting. John had done most of the crying and Scott most of the fighting. Luckily, instead of resorting to real violence, the couple had found that as long as the two were together, they would cooperate rather well.

There had no been no real trauma to the two boys after rescue and they were cleared very quickly as a case of very resilient kids. What their parents, as well as the professionals, didn't notice however was that the boys hadn't left each other's presence ever since the kidnapping. But the brothers had always been close and their mother had been to busy with the youngest to notice that the boys now even went to the toilet and bathroom together instead of on their own. They had shared a room since Virgil was born, so sleeping had never been a problem, but one never left the room before the other was awake. When she did notice she interpreted it as play, because Virgil too was often concluded.

It hadn't been until two weeks later, when they went back to school, that the problem was discovered. The boys had been very anxious about that, but not for the reasons they parents thought. Their mother had dropped them off at the gate and waited for them to get inside before she went home. She'd just arrived back when she got a call.

John had not gone to his own classroom, but instead now sat next to Scott in his and simply refused to leave. Luckily the teachers had been informed of the situation and didn't try to force him. Their mother had arrived to try to talk the boy out of it. It was only then they had discovered Scott was just as bad (John had just simply lost the coin toss about whose classroom they would go to) and how deep this all went.

The professionals had come in and concluded the boys had developed a fear of separation, but that it wasn't really linked to the kidnapping as they had thought at first. The kidnapping had been the cause, but attempted separation didn't trigger any bad memories from the kidnapping, just a feeling of anxiety. The school was afraid the boys would develop a backlog, so they had allowed John, who was known to be an easy student (unlike Scott at times), to remain in Scott's class and work on his subjects form there. Scott's class had soon taken to "their" little brother, especially as John appeared to love arithmetic and started following the instruction of the teacher and took some heat of the other children by answering the questions asked. He also sometimes added questions that made the teachers falter and therefore the other children laugh.

The teachers now had another problem however, because since then the boy no longer had a backlog, but was instead ahead of his year, causing his teacher to having to collect extra work for him so the blond was still being challenged when the "class-sharing" had been over. Scott's class hadn't liked seeing John go and kept saying 'hi' to him whenever they met him in the corridor. One year later it had come in extremely handy as some kids started bulling John behind Scott's back, and suddenly found themselves up against the entire 4th grade.

Another thing John remembered was that the room they had been locked in back then had been more luxurious, as they had been kept in a house. John suspected that this time, he was in a warehouse. The concrete walls were bare and it seemed nobody had ever taken the effort to paint them. Last time they'd been rescued by the police easily, because the kidnapper had been some old employee from their father and had left behind many clues. Nobody had ever told him that, but John had researched the event on the computer a few years later. His father hadn't been happy when he found out. Neither was Scott. They'd tried to have him forget about the matter, because they were afraid it would affect him badly, but John hadn't been badly affected. He felt just the same as he had before, maybe even better since he now understood. This new person however, seemed to have thing planned out a little better. And that scared him.

The kidnapper had made it very clear to the boy when they arrived that he wasn't supposed to be there. He had tried dragging the boy out of the van and John had struggled to stay with Gordon. This had not earned him any points. He had already received some bad bruises before he had finally gotten through to the man. If he could stay with Gordon, he would behave. But the man hadn't understood himself. He'd had to tell him. That wasn't how it went last time.

That was when they'd ended up in the room. Alone. John had tried to wake Gordon up but it hadn't worked. Gordon hadn't woken until the next morning, which John had dubbed Day 1. As expected, he had been terrified. It had taken John some time to calm him down. John didn't remember panicking this badly when he was eight, but soon found that Gordon couldn't recall seeing his kidnapper. He only remembered something being pushed to his mouth and being very afraid. The boy had absolutely no idea what was going on. Last time Scott and John had been in pushed into a van and had stayed awake for over ten minutes before the kidnappers had given them a water bottle. Scott had made John sip from it first, not knowing it was apparently spiked, and John didn't remember much more after that. The next moment he could recall was when he had woken up in the room with Scott asleep on the bunk bed above him.

The man had shown his masked face again that day. He had made his way into the room and sat down on a chair in the corner. John had pushed Gordon behind him on the matrass and tried to talk to the man. Opposite to the kidnappers from last time this man did talk to them. But what he said had only scared John. He had taken great pleasure in informing how the entire police force was searching for them and how their family was terribly afraid. John had wondered how they felt. Last time Virgil had been very annoyed. He had been very mad at his brothers for "hiding". Luckily he had forgiven them almost immediately after his brothers had "come out". Virgil wasn't one to hold grudges, not for long anyway. But then he had been a six year old oblivious to what was going on. Now he was nine and probably just as afraid for their fates as his father and older brother would be, but Alan might have a similar reaction.

It was shortly after his gloating that the man had tried to take Gordon away. At that point, John had flipped. He had screamed and fought and yelled and acted out until the man had let go of his brother and had instead dragged John out of the room. Gordon had been shut in and had started yelling and banging on the door, but John had stopped struggling as soon as Gordon was out of the man's reach. Taping a ransom video had been easy. Because of course, just like last time, it had been about ransom. He had had to speak to a recorder pretending it was his father. Only this time he had become really scared.

After he'd added an extra piece, telling his father Gordon would be okay because he would be taking care of him, the man had hit him. Without warning. It hadn't taken John long to figure out it hadn't been because of adding his own personal message to the recording, but just to hurt him. It had been all to scare his father.

John tried not to think about it too much, but he was very glad he had been able to prevent the man form taking his little brother instead. Back at the cellar he had had to comfort Gordon for a long time to get him to calm down. Luckily the man didn't return that day. Not even to bring food.

Day 2 had been pretty safe. The man had only turned up in the morning. Giving them some dry bread and refilling their water bottles. Then he had left again, but not before telling them the tape had been delivered and it was now depending on their father whether they had to make any others. He had returned that evening with some fast food for both of them. It had been cold already, but had tasted great, mostly because they had been really hungry at the time. Despite that, John had taken to storing the small, well sealed plastic wrappers with salad and a little desert in the backpack. In case the man would forget to feed them the next day.

The little boy on the matrass stirred and started moving his hands around. When he couldn't find the comforting presence of his brother, he shot up in panic.

John was at his side in no time, pulling his younger brother close, like Scott had done to him al those years ago. "Ssssh, Gordy, I'm right here. You're fine."

After a while Gordon nodded and John let go. He noticed the pen in his brothers hand. "Can I have a cool tattoo too?" He whispered.

John couldn't help but smile. "What kind of tattoo do you want then?"

"The same as you." Gordon's voice seemed to sound exited. A lump formed in John's throat, but he did as he was asked and copied the message on his own thigh upon Gordon's. A double message wouldn't hurt, he reasoned. After all, it was all just in case…

During the tattoo-ing, as they called it, Gordon tried to grab the pen out of his older brothers hands as he wanted to write it himself. He only hadn't counted on the fact he couldn't read, nor write, yet. However, after John was finally was finished, the wiggling of his younger brother made it very hard to work, it did give John an idea on how to pass the day. They were being shut in a room with only John's backpack, of which the content didn't include any toys, but only books that where to difficult for Gordon to enjoy. But there were also notebooks, which he used to write down his remarks about the textbooks.

The notebooks were where he was after. Carefully he ripped out the filled pages and put them in the respective books. Gordon looked on with interest as John put a notebook and pencil in front of him.

"How far are you with writing in school?" He asked. Gordon immediately began talking about the letters he had learned already and the ones he still found difficult. They ended up spending the entire morning learning the letters of the alphabet. When John found Gordon was getting bored with the letters, he gave him words like "fish" and "sea" to practice, while reading some fiction himself.

When the kidnapper hadn't turned up by noon, they ate the leftover salads and deserts from the previous day, while playing tic-tac-toe. Gordon was getting bored learning and ended up playing with two badly drawn paper fish in a corner.

John's mind had come up with another idea, as he cleared a notebook of his own and started writing about everything that had happened in the last few days. However since he was afraid what the man might do if he found John writing a dairy of sorts, he wrote it in code. He only hoped Scott and Virgil would remember how to crack it if things went wrong and it was ever found.

When the evening broke, John was starting to get worried. The man still hadn't returned yet and they were getting hungry. He had made Gordon and himself ready for bed. It wasn't that late yet, but in a short time they would lose the daylight from the window.

It was almost dark when the man returned, but this time he had brought food that was actually still warm. He sat in the chair in the corner staring as the children ate, while John kept an eye on him in return. Somehow he felt threatened. Even more so than before.

This feeling turned out not to be ungrounded, because when the boys were finished the man made a leap for Gordon. He caught the young boy by the arm and jostled him towards him. John leapt into action immediately, leashing out at the man and jumping on his back when that didn't work.

The second action caused the man to lighten his grip on Gordon, enabling the redhead to break free and run for the other side of the room. John, however, was still there when the man lost his temper. The beating was harsh, but not as painful as the moment before that when the man threw him off his back and he landed on the ground, with only his arm to break his fall. He could only curl himself up in a ball, shielding his arm the best possible, and deal with everything the man threw at him –which where mostly kicks- while trying to block out Gordon's screams.

When the man left him alone he tried to get to his feet, but found this more difficult as everything hurt and he found he could not use his arm any longer without experiencing a lot of pain. He got to his knees, only to find the man had a hold of Gordon again. Using what felt like the last of his strength he moved to attach himself at the kidnappers legs.

The man shook his leg as soon as he felt John's presence, causing John to scream out when his arm shifted. Gordon had started crying now.

"Stop…" John panted. "Wait… Let… me… come…"

"I only need the little one on tape." The man sneered. "You can stay here just fine."

"Please…" John continued, struggling with every word. "We'll behave…"

"I said I only need him." The man repeated, giving his leg another shake.

John tried to ignore the pain. "If we're together… and you don't hurt Gordon… I'll behave… Not just now… but… always… I promise…"

The kidnapper now seriously seemed to consider the offer.

"Just two rules…" He pushed. "Gordon's not alone with you… and you don't hurt him… Then I'll do as you say… and he listens to me…" He knew he left a major loophole there, but he really needed to persuade the man to take him up on the offer.

That didn't mean he was actually relieved as the kidnapper did so.


	2. Chapter 2

**There's the next chapter. Surprise! I just realised the first chapter isn't very clear on the real content of the story and also pretty dark, mostly because there isn't a lot of dialogue to lighten the mood a little. That doesn't mean it won't get a little dark again though. But it gives a slightly better view of the story in general.**

 **This fanfic is already finished and consists of seven chapters. (I wanted to write a simple five-chapter fic, but it turned into… this. Apparently the word simple is not in my vocabulary. Believe me… I checked.) Which will most likely be posted weekly to give me time to finish other fic's I'm working on to start posting after that. The actual days I will be posting may vary because of the vacation.**

 **I hope I didn't make to many grammar and or spelling mistakes. I checked the chapter over, but I'm not a native speaker so I might have missed some things…**

John carefully stepped back into the room, the tray full of bread pushed against his chest with his good hand. It had been two days ago since he'd hurt it and when it hadn't healed in the slightest, John had come to the conclusion it must indeed be broken.

Gordon was seated in the corner opposite of the door, his own notebook spread out before him. Once he was inside, John spun on the spot, facing the man. He put a grateful smile on his face. "Thank you for the food."

It didn't seem to affect their kidnapper at all, but the man had started to trust John to make good on his promise. And that was all they needed now.

Only after the kidnapper had shut the door John made his way over to the bed, placing the tray in front of it.

"Look what we've got today." He called out to Gordon. "His milk was almost off, so we could have it." He gestured at the milk carton with his good hand.

Gordon didn't move.

"And I made you peanut butter sandwiches…" He added with an urging smile.

"He hit you again." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

John sighed and made his way over to his little brother couching next to him and putting his good arm around the boy. "Don't worry, Gordy. It's okay."

Gordon sprung up and a streak of pain crossed John's face because his arm shifted due to the sudden movement. "It's not okay! Daddy and Scotty say hitting people is bad! And it hurts!"

"It is bad." John acknowledged from his spot on the floor. "But remember, I hit him too." That was not strictly true. John had leashed out at the man before, but only when he had gone after Gordon. As long as their kidnapper left Gordon alone he would behave, even if that meant not defending himself. He was well aware of the danger he had put himself in, but it was a necessary risk to keep his little brother save.

"But an adult can't hit a child. The man at school said that's even badder than a kid hitting a kid."

"But this is a bad man, Gordon, you know that." John breathed out heavily. "And it could be worse. At least he doesn't hit you."

He knew he had said something wrong when Gordon suddenly started to cry. With some difficulty he got up and led his brother back to the matrass, hugging him close.

"It's really is okay, Gordon." He whispered. This only made Gordon cry harder, while he buried his face in John's t-shirt. "We just need to keep doing as he says and…"

He stopped when, seemingly out of nothing, Gordon pulled back.

"You're being weird again." He announced, fear evident in his eyes.

"Weird again?" This was the first time Gordon had said this out loud and John didn't get what he was aiming at.

Gordon nodded slowly, still keeping his distance. "It's like there's two of you. John and Not-John. Not-John is weird and he is always doing as the bad man says. He's scary."

John was a little surprised by this revelation. He hadn't thought his new behaviour towards their kidnapper would have bothered his little brother so much. He wanted to keep Gordon happy, that was the reason he did this after all. He wondered how he was going to talk himself out of this one. A John and a Not-John. His brother sure had a big imagination.

Suddenly he had an idea. He pulled Gordon closer until he could whisper in the little boy's ear. "Do you want to know a secret?"

Gordon seemed to be hesitant at first, weakly struggling to get free, but it didn't take long for his curiosity to get the better of him. He nodded.

"There is not two of me, you know, there's three."

Gordon looked at him in surprise. "Three?"

John nodded. "Yes, three. There is normal John, super John and secret identity John."

Gordon looked confused now.

John went on with the story. "The one you call Not-John is actually secret identity John. He works for the bad guy to get secret information so he can take him down and he can't be discovered because he has to protect his little brother. But secretly he is Super-John, who is trying to find a way to defeat the bad man so he and his brother can go home. That's why he only turns up when his little brother is in danger."

"But you always lose…" A sombre Gordon said.

John pulled up an eyebrow. "But the little brother never got hurt, right? So that means he actually wins."

That should give Gordon something to think about. Meanwhile John continued his story. "And last there is normal-John. That's the real John. The one only the people who know both his identities get to see. When I'm alone with you, I'm normal-John."

"But to be a superhero, you need to have superpowers!" Gordon suddenly piped up. "But you don't have those…"

"Who says I don't have superpowers?" John asked mysteriously. "Scott has. He's got big brother powers."

"Those don't count!" Gordon replied in an annoyed voice. "They are annoying. Super powers can't be annoying."

Realising he couldn't play that card, John did some quick thinking. Luckily an idea came to him very quickly. "Did you ever hear the story about when I was born?" He asked Gordon.

Gordon tilted his head. "You were born waaaaaay to early, right?"

"It's called being born premature. You know baby's grow in a mothers tummy, don't you?" He waited for Gordon to nod. And hoped Gordon wouldn't ask how the baby got there.

"Like Allie did?"

"Yes, like Allie." John smiled. "And babies only come out when they are big enough. And I was not big enough yet. I still needed to be in mum's belly for two months when I was born. I was to small and the doctors thought I was going to die."

Gordon took a sharp breath at that. He hadn't known this part of the story yet.

"But one of the doctors was actually a really smart alien, so she secretly took me to her spaceship and she was able to make me all better. To do that, she added some alien DNA to make me half-alien. That's why I like stargazing so much, my alien-half want to be up with the stars."

Gordon suddenly looked really frightened again and John wondered if it was too much. He had to admit that maybe it was a little to far-fetched. "You are not going to leave us, are you? To live with the stars?"

John smiled and gave his brother another tight hug. "Of course not! And if I do, I'll always come back, because my human half wants to be here on earth, with you."

Gordon nodded, apparently satisfied with the reply. "But if you are a half-Alien, how are you a superhero?"

"Because Aliens are different from humans and that means half-Aliens can do some things other humans can't."

"Like turning green?"

"No," John mumbled. "Can't do that. Only maybe when I'm seasick. But I can read your mind..."

"No, you can't!"

"Oh, I can. Why don't you think of an animal and I'll guess which one it is."

Gordon's eyes lit up and he frowned as if he was having trouble concentrating. John mirrored his expression.

"Is it…a fish?" John asked.

Gordon looked at him in awe. "How did you know that?"

John tapped his head. "I told you I could read minds."

"Can you do it again?"

John thought about that for a second. There was no way he would guess the next animal right. "Of course, but not with animals this time or I'll dream of animals all night tonight. How about a sport?"

It didn't take John more than one try to guess the next one. They did a couple of others, but John soon cut it out when he ran out of subjects in which Gordon was as predictable as he was in the previous ones. Another reason he stopped it was because he felt bad for lying to his little brother, even if it was for a good cause. Gordon needed to be happy, but he would be very upset when he would find out John was making things up.

The change in Gordon was evident however. He was happier than he had been in days, now he really believed his big brother was protecting him and everything was going to be all right. But for some reason, John only felt worse. He excused himself from practicing words with Gordon and went to write in his own secret notebook. He was lucky it was only his left one he could no longer use, because he was right-handed and this way he could still write. He wrote down the story he had just spun and apologised to Scott for lying to his little brother. He knew Scott, and maybe Virgil if he could remember, would be the ones to read his journal if it was ever found, and John wasn't there to tell them, as they were the only ones that could.

"What is that?" He hadn't seen Gordon approaching. "Are those more letters? I don't know them."

"Kind of…" John admitted, trying to come up with a suitable excuse. The less Gordon knew about the gravity of their current predicament, the better. "It's alien writing."

Gordon's mouth fell open. He clearly hadn't expected something like that to be in existence. "That's cool. Can you teach me too?"

John shook his head. "Maybe when you're older. First you need to learn earth letters, but when you know that I'm sure you can learn it too. Scott and Virgil could." This time, it wasn't a lie.

"Scott and Virgil know you're half an alien?" Gordon asked in surprise.

"Scott does, but Virgil thinks it's just a code." This was also partly the truth. Scott often called John an alien, but it was only a joke between them.

Suddenly they heard footsteps outside the door. John quickly shoved the notebook under the bed, when Gordon gave him a strange look, he whispered. "It's the secret book of my powers. The bad guy may not find it. If he does I'm in big trouble."

Then he dropped upon the bed, so he sat on top of it, while pushing Gordon behind him.

After taking his time removing the locks on the outside the man came in. He stopped for a second, before reaching out and pulling John of the bed by his good arm. Gordon immediately started screaming.

John looked back at him for a second, whispering: "It's okay, Gordon." Which made the kid go quiet in an instant.

Then the door was slammed and he was hauled through the small hallway into the room the man used to make the videos. His suspicions where confirmed when the man dumped him in the chair and walked up to the standard in front of it.

"Are we making a new video?" He asked, making himself more comfortable in the chair, whimpering softly as his left arm brushed past one of the armrests. It didn't escape John's notice the door was wide open, but he knew better than to run. The man tended to do this sometimes, he had noticed, probably to test him. If he broke his end of the deal, the man could break his own. And anyway, there was no way he would run away without Gordon.

"Shut it!" The man snapped. So John kept quiet and let his eyes wander the room. After a little while, he just ended up looking at the video camera the man was trying to get to work. In less than a minute he had already thought of multiple ways to get "the damn thing" to work, but kept quiet, because that was what the man had said. It would be the man's bad. John had a way with communication devices no other children his age had.

Finally the man got it recording. He pulled the black mask he always used during the recordings over his head and turned to John.

"Do you know why you're back here, John?" He asked. John didn't like his tone of voice. It was angry, irritated. Those emotions never brought out much good in people.

"No," he said politely, but not without a hint of fear. "You haven't told me yet."

"Your father…" He spat the last word out. "…is asking for more time. What do you think of that, Johnny?"

John didn't exactly know what to say. "I…"

More he didn't need to say, because that was when the beating began. He couldn't help crying out in pain as the man's fists struck him on his face, chest and both his arms. The horrible pain in his left arm almost made him faint. The man must have realised because his arm wasn't hit again after that, as the man started kicking him in the shins. John shouldn't, but he knew exactly why the man changed tactics. If he had been knocked out, it would be less of a show. That was what this was after all, a show, a reason for his father to get the money together faster than he was apparently doing.

He slit down to the ground and curled up in a small ball, shielding his broken arm especially.

As his mind started to drift away form the on-going beating he wondered briefly why his father would have asked for more time, why he would have done this to him. Suddenly a plan formed in his fogged mind.

He was instantly thinking clear again.

"Wait…" He croaked, his voice soft. But the kidnapper heard, as there was no other sound in the room, despite that it felt anything other than silent to the young blonde.

Stopping his vicious attack, the man moved out of the way, so the camera could capture John's pained, slightly bloody face. "Do you have anything to say to your dad, John?"

"No…, to you…" John nodded slightly to put emphasis on his answer. He only now felt the real extent of his injuries. He hurt all over, but nothing as bad as his arm, which he now cradled against his chest. "You're… question… I think… I know… why… he… did it…"

The man seemed surprised, but John couldn't be sure because of the mask. "And why is that…?"

"If he… pays you… you could just… kill us… and… leave… with the money…" John took a deep painful breath. "He has… no… guarantee… you'll…let us go."

"I said I would." The man replied, irritation evident in his voice.

"But he… doesn't know… that… for sure." John defended his father. "And the police have… their statistics." John knew the police was involved and so did the kidnapper. They hadn't even added "no police" to their message. He and Gordon had been taken in full sight. The police had been called in form the start.

"And what do you propose I'd do about that?" The man asked. His tone was cynical, sneering, but John still took the opening.

"Let Gordon go." He whispered. "Then… he'll know… you intent to… return us. He'll even… go behind… the police's back…"

"And you expect me to believe that?"

John couldn't help put in a really small smile. "You don't know… my dad… like I do."

"I don't think so, Johnny. If I let one of you go, I'll miss half my earnings."

"You'll still… have me... Dad will pay… the same…" He hated panting like he did, struggling with every sentence, sounding so weak… "He wants… all of us… back. You only… wanted to kidnap… one of us… anyway…"

He waited for a few seconds, before adding the final part of his plea. He could only hope it would push the kidnapper over de edge.

"And if… Gordon is… really safe… there's no reason… for me to… misbehave."

 **So that's it for now. Till next week** **.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I realised I forgot the disclaimer. Whoopsie.**

 **Although it's probably obvious: I do not own any of the Thunderbirds characters.**

 **Next up I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to review. Especially to the Guest, who wrote my first review ever. And such a big one too. You totally made my day! As to answer your question; I never wrote out the kidnapping scene and I can't do it now, because it would mess with the plot of the already finished story, but next week we will be over to Scott's person of view and he will give a short rundown of the past events as he experienced them.**

 **Now back to John and Gordon. I promise that the real (on screen) violence is over now. I don't like writing beatings, but sometimes it's necessary to make the rest of the story work…**

"Gordon, wake up."

The redhead grumbled and turned away form the annoying noise his brother was making. John gave a little smile.

"Come on, Gordon. We need to get dressed. Today is an important day."

John still couldn't quite believe the kidnapper had agreed to his deal. Maybe he was afraid he would end up with nothing at all if he went down the same path as before. After the beating the kidnapper had carefully lifted John of the ground and put him on a table to patch him up to the best of his abilities. Which mostly meant the blood was wiped of his face and he got a tissue for his split lip. Unexpectedly however, the man had also made an improvised sling out of the dish-towel he had made John dry of the little dishes they had the day before.

It was then that John had brought up the deal again and added a last demand. He wanted Gordon to be released in a place he knew he would be safe. He clarified it didn't need to be a police station or anything like that, but just a somewhere he would be sure the people there would return him to his family. And the way he saw it, a kidnapper had no right to make a comment about his fear of strangers.

The man had some trouble with this demand, but in the end they had agreed on the street in front Scott and John's middle school. Scott would most likely not be there, since nobody would have asked from him to return to school when his brother was missing, but both his and John's classmates would be. They would recognise Gordon, but not take action soon enough to stop the man from making his getaway with John. If they did it in the morning, the streets would be full of arriving bussed and parents dropping children off for them to stand out. The only thing he hadn't planned out yet was how he was going to persuade Gordon to leave him behind.

Gordon turned on the matrass, now staring at his older brother. "Why's today important?"

John hadn't told Gordon anything about the deal he'd made. If Gordon knew he was going to leave him behind, he would never step out of the car voluntarily. It was the condition he was stuck with in return. He had to get Gordon out of the car, one way or another, but couldn't get out himself. If he ran off as well, Gordon would die. The kidnapper would be bringing a gun, or so he had been told. He had spent a long time talking the man into letting him come; persuading him he wouldn't run of. He had even offered the man to break his leg to be assured. He would do everything to get Gordon his freedom. The man had refused that offer, but John suspected it wasn't out of sympathy. Having to carry his hostage could cause problems at another time.

He forced another smile on his face. "Today, we're going for a ride."

Gordon was confused now.

"In a spaceship?" He asked hopefully.

John shook his head and his little brothers face fell. "In the villains car."

The confusion was back. The last time the boy had been in the van, though he didn't remember it, was when the kidnapper had taken them. "Is he going to bring us home?"

"No, he said he is going to bring us to the school Scott and I go to. Then you can show the teachers there the letters you've learned."

"And Scotty?" Gordon asked in excitement. "Will he be there? Can I show him too?"

"I don't know." John answered in honesty, although he didn't expect their brother to be there. "Maybe he's not feeling well and dad made him stay home."

Gordon pouted at that. "But I want to see Scotty…"

"Don't we both," John whispered under his breath. "Come, let's get you dressed."

Gordon always made a game of avoiding being dressed. He pulled the blanket over his head and struggled against John trying to drag him out, laughing as he squeezed himself in all kind of positions to dodge John's grip.

John wasn't amused today however, once his hand closed around Gordon's arm used all of his strength to jerk him of the matrass. Gordon screamed in pain.

"Aaauuww, John." Tears started forming in his eyes as he pulled himself free, John having loosened his grip after hearing the scream. "That hurt! You're not supposed to be Not-John right now."

John snapped out of whatever had possessed him and crouched down next to Gordon. "I'm sorry, Gordy." He whispered. "But we really have to hurry today. If he comes and we're not ready, he might not take us at all. And you want to go to the school, right."

Gordon nodded, tears still sliding over his cheeks. "Want to see Scotty."

"Now let's get you dressed then."

He wetted the handkerchief that had been in his backpack with some of the content of the water bottle and dipped Gordon's face, getting rid of the tears at the same time as the dust. "So, we can't have you look like you haven't bathed in days."

"But I haven't…"

"But they don't need to know that." John replied as he now did Gordon's neck, arms and the other parts of his body. Then he handed Gordon part of the blanket. "Here, dry yourself."

"But the blanket…"

"It's okay." John just said. Gordon wouldn't need it anymore after all.

After Gordon was dried off John helped him getting his shirt over his head and stepping in his boxers and jeans. Before fastening the jeans however, he lifted the matrass again and pulled out his notebook. He had written the last part yesterday afternoon.

"Here." He put the notebook half in Gordon's jeans, using the belt to secure it tightly to his brother's belly. "I need you to protect it, okay. And if you see Scott, you can give it to him. The bad guy can't know you have it."

Gordon nodded seriously.

"Okay, now go work on you writing so I can get dressed myself."

It didn't take John as long as he thought it would. During his short wash he didn't forget to add the tenth stripe to the collection decorating his thigh. They were missing for a little less than eleven days now. The deal had been made on the third day, which had been a Thursday, but John had been pretty much immobilised for the next day. Gordon had had a total freak-out when the man had carried him back into the room, snapping to the boy to stay on the other side, as he was unable to close the door with his hands occupied. John had been put on the matrass and the man had checked him over one more time before leaving. Gordon had put the blanket over him and had then snuggled against him, not leaving his spot for the entire evening until they where both asleep.

The next few days John had still been too hurt to get up, but they had thought of a way to go on with Gordon's writing lessons. Gordon had loved the game where John spelled out the letters for him to write and he had to guess the word afterwards. If he forgot a letter he had to put the page with the alphabet over John's head and guess which one it was until he had found the right one.

It took until Day 6 for John to start moving around again. He had asked the kidnapper for the plan put into action on Monday, but the man wanted to scout the perimeter first so they settled for Thursday, or Day Ten, today. Apparently the man liked the idea of letting their family sweat.

After he was done dressing, he also packed the backpack, because he wasn't sure they were coming back there. If he was sure John would behave he might even take him to his own house, since he was always complaining about the amount of time he had to spend on his investment.

They were sitting on the bed when the kidnapper came in. Gordon with his own notebook in his hand, ready to leave.

The kidnapper gestured with his head to the notebook suspiciously. 'What's that?'

"Gordon's notebook." John answered coolly. "He practiced his writing. He's going to show it to the teachers at the school." The man nodded in recognition of the lie John had told the little boy.

"Let me see it first." He demanded briskly.

Gordon sent a hesitant glance John's way, but his older brother nodded and Gordon handed the book over. The man slowly flipped through it and found nothing other than lose letters, names of the family, all kinds of fish and other words in no way related to him all over the pages.

The man handed the redhead the notebook back and crouched next to John to retie his swing. He couldn't do it himself and they had found Gordon couldn't knot it either, so the man did it for him every morning he was there.

"Let's go." The kidnapper said, squeezing John's shoulder. "And no tricks. I did bring what I told I would."

John nodded silently and gave Gordon his right hand. Together they stepped out of the door and into the hallway. They stopped for a moment in the small kitchen John had been forced to make their breakfast every morning, so the man could put a horribly ugly pink coat on John, leaving the left sleeve hanging empty at his side because of the swing. They took some stairs and small hallways and ended up in a silo, where the van was parked. The man unlocked the car and guided John into the front seat, while Gordon had to sit at his feet. When the little boy was seated the man draped a blanket over John's legs, making Gordon disappear from sight.

The man leaned back and pulled out a box, which he opened to reveal a black wig. He forced it upon John's head and modelled it a little, but it looked horribly unnatural. The long black hair concealed his blond hair, but also made his skin look horribly white. And the wig wasn't very new either, making the hair pop to all sides. He looked like his hear dryer exploded.

"Black is definitely not my colour." John couldn't help but comment. Gordon pushed the blanket aside a bit and started laughing at the sight of his brother.

"You look like a zombie!" He shrieked.

"And girl is not your style." The man shot back, ignoring the redhead. "We just don't want anyone recognising you, do we?"

John shrugged, a shrug that changed into a winch as his arm was moved again.

The man gave a mean smile at that. Then he turned to Gordon. "Get back under there! We're leaving."

They drove out of the silo and onto the road. John had to blink when the sun shone into his eyes. He slipped his good hand under the blanket, grabbing Gordon's as he felt the little boy shiver.

They had indeed been at the industrial district of the small city and the fact that John was allowed to know now made him suspects they weren't coming back. Or maybe they were, as Gordon wasn't allowed to see anything at all.

When they got onto familiar terrain John knew they were nearing the school. It wouldn't be long and Gordon would be free again. It really seemed the kidnapper was going to uphold his side of the bargain. Now he only needed to keep his promise. And hope his dad would really pay this time, because they weren't found in time. Even if it meant going behind the police's back.

And then they were there. The school still looked the same it always had, but it had seemed so long ago for him to attended there. The man stopped the car at the opposite side of the road, Johns seat the furthest away form the gates.

"We're here, Gordy." John said, removing the blanket slowly.

Gordon's head shot up, staring at the place across the street in awe. Suddenly he almost jumped on his brother's lap. "Scotty!"

Surprised John followed his little brother's line of view and found the kid was right. On a bench in front of the building, not to far away from the gates sat his big brother.

Scott.

He was right there on the other side of the street and yet so far away.

The man cursed and made to start the car, but John stopped him. "Wait!"

The man gave him an angry look. "He is not supposed to be here."

"What day is it today?" John asked, though he already knew. He hadn't expected his brother to be there though.

"Thursday." The man answered, clearly annoyed.

"Baseball practice." John mumbled. "There was some big thing with the baseball team today. He's the captain. Dad probably persuaded to go. As some kind of distraction. This can still work…"

Before the man could answer he diverted his attention to Gordon. "Gordy, you see Scott there, right? Why don't you go show him you writing first? I'll be right behind you okay, you go first."

Gordon buckled his head. "But I don't want to go alone…"

"But you're a big boy, why don't you go surprise him. I'm so slow I'll only ruin the surprise."

"But…"

"No butts, Gordon." He opened the door. "If you don't get out of the car now, we don't get to go at all. Isn't that right, mister?"

The kidnapper just nodded in annoyance. "Just hurry."

Despite the pain it caused him John planted a little kiss on his little brother's head as he climbed out of the car. Gordon hesitated after that and for a little moment John was afraid he'd given the game away. He saw the man reach for something in the corner of his eyes and fear struck his heart. "Just remember to look before you cross the street, okay? Go to Scotty."

Then Gordon decided seeing his biggest brother was more important than John's weird behaviour and he started to make his way towards the gates.

John gave a small sigh of relieve seeing his brother get further and further away form the danger and closer and closer to safety. The tension the man was emitting staring at John's next action went almost unnoticed by the blonde, until he realised the door was still open, nodding in admission he pulled it closed. The man patted his head in a patronising manner. "Good boy."

The motor was started as Gordon crossed the road and they left the parking spot. John's eyes didn't leave his little brother, when he crossed the gates and started running for his big brother. Then he saw the little redhead draw a very surprised Scott into a hug and he felt all the fight leave him. Gordon was safe. The last thing he saw was a shocked Scott yelling something at his friends and then crouching down in front of their second youngest brother to try and talk to him.

Then the van rounded the corner.

And he was gone.

 **There we go. I'll be back next week, when we go over to Scott's person of view.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! A new week, a new chapter.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews, but also for the follows and favourites! It's great to know people actually enjoy my writing!**

 **Also, a special thanks to my beta for checking this chapter over for me. And should there be any mistakes left: that's all on me, because I'm the one that made them in the first place!**

 **I don't own Thunderbirds.**

 **Now enjoy a Scotty-chapter!**

He wasn't supposed to be at school. He hadn't been there for over an entire week. Ever since that fateful Monday afternoon. He had been playing catch with Virgil in the park when he heard John scream. His father, who had been playing with Alan on the little playground, had immediately sprung into action and so had Scott himself. But the only thing they had been able to do was look at how a dark-haired man threw the doors of a small van shut, making his brother disappear from sight and then drove of.

Even if there was nothing he could do he just kept running. His father had to grab him and haul him back before another approaching car hit him. He had struggled immensely, screaming John's name. It was only when his father forced him to look at him that he finally calmed down a bit.

It was him who collected Virgil, who had just been standing there where he had before everything had gone south, and Alan, who was crying horribly, since he felt the sudden panic but didn't get what was going on.

It was only then he found he couldn't find Gordon. He took the other two, who were now both crying, back to his father. Jeff had been making an emergency call at that point, but considering this equally important, he had still tapped his father on the shoulder. Jeff had looked up at the interruption and asked what was up. When Scott had told him he couldn't find Gordon, Jeff had stared at him in guilt and disclosed Gordon had also been in the van. That was when Scott could no longer fight his own tears.

Scott had closed his mouth and hadn't opened it again until the police arrived. He had slid down onto the grass and just sat there, hugging his two remaining brothers close.

It had been a tough week for the Tracy family. The police had set up a small command-centre in their living room, while waiting for a ransom call. At another time, this could have been very cool, but the boys hadn't cared one bit. Their grandmother had arrived to take care of them, while their father helped the police to the best of his abilities.

They had been allowed to stay home from school. Not only because their moods weren't up to it at all, but also because of the reporters swarming around. After all, ever since their fathers broke the boarder to millionaire; the Tracy's were news. Especially after the tragic skiing accident one year ago.

Instead of a call, a videotape had been delivered to their father's office building. At first, everybody had been glad it had indeed been a ransom case, as those children where more often found, because of the evidence the criminals left behind in the need to contact their parents. This case had become slightly more difficult at that point, however, because the tape held no clues altogether.

Except for maybe the content. Scott hadn't been allowed to view the tape, but he knew it had upset his father greatly. The only thing he knew was that the tape had only featured John, something that made the police and his family worry over Gordon's fate, even though John had apparently said something about Gordon being fine. There father had also disclosed the oldest blond had seemed to have been doing fine. There had been a small press release, with Jeff asking for proof both of his sons were still alive. It had come in the form of another tape, which had been considered good news. Then there had been the argument with the officers. He only knew about that fight because he had been out on the roof that night, John's favourite spot, and Grandma had left the windows open.

At first he hadn't gotten what exactly was going on, so he had asked. Jeff had explained that the police wanted him to ask for more time, as there was no guarantee the boys would be returned after the ransom was paid. The money was now their biggest bargaining chip. Meanwhile the police would be following up on some leads within their fathers company, because they suspected the kidnapper to be related to Tracy Industries, just like last time.

In the end their dad had been persuaded and there had been a small press conference over the news, as it was their only way to reach the man. This had been seven days ago. They hadn't heard anything ever since. It was killing their father.

He had been surprised when his grandmother started to persuade him to go to school on Thursday. He had already missed seven full days and wanted him to get some distraction. And there was the first baseball training of the season. It had taken her a long time to convince him, as Scott felt this as the ultimate betrayal towards his brothers. Going on with his live while theirs were in peril.

In the end he had agreed anyway, not as much for the welcome distraction, but so he could talk to John's friends and comfort them a little too. He would find them during break and tell them the latest updates, not that it was any real news. But since no news could also be seen as good news, he'd clamp to that.

Virgil, who had been sitting quietly in a corner, had proposed to go as well, to do the same to Gordon's friends. There was not much the nine-year-old knew of the situation, neither what he could tell them, but if his older brother was going to do something to help his brothers, so would he, and he and Gordon attended the same school as well. Just like Scott and John.

Of course Alan had wanted in now too, even if he didn't go to the same school as any of his brothers. He had proposed to comfort the school teddy bears, since Gordon had always liked them when he still had been in the same preschool as Alan.

So he had showed up for school that day. Their grandma had dropped him of a little earlier than usual, because Virgil and Alan had also been in the car. Their schools were only a few hundred meters away from his, but she wanted to talk to their teachers first, so she had wanted to be there before classes started. She had proposed to talk to his teachers as well, but he had declined the offer.

Being this early had its perks, he had secured a bench in front of the head building and it hadn't taken long for his friends from the baseball team to join him. There had only been five of them yet. Jane, Sara, Andrew, Michael, Joey where surrounding him trying to get him to cheer up a little. They had been laughing a little, some of Scott's first real smiles in days, when Gordon had showed up.

He was just suddenly there. One moment Scott had been listening to Sara telling him something about the stupidities of their substitute math teacher, the other moment a familiar redhead he hadn't seen for a little under eleven days was hugging him around his waist.

"Gordon," He breathed, his mouth refusing to close. His friends' jaws had also dropped and he couldn't blame them. "Gordon…"

Gordon was there.

His little brother, that had been missing for over a week was there, at his school. He couldn't believe it. "Gordon…"

Then something else hit him. Just Gordon. It was just Gordon. Where was John?

"John." He straightened up. Quickly scanning his eyes through the crowd, but finding no sign of the blond. Then he addressed his friends. "John isn't here. The kidnapper must be here somewhere. See if you can find something! And get the parents to help!" They immediately spread out. It was a little harsh towards his teammates, ordering them around like that, but he would apologise later. They would understand. At this moment John was more important.

He crouched down next to Gordon. He was now on face to face with his little brother. The water-loving boy pushed a notebook in his hands, which Scott immediately recognised as one of John's spares. "Look Scotty, I did practice my writing and…"

"Gordon." The tone in Scott's voice made the little boy stop. "This is important. Where is John?"

"John?" Gordon looked over his shoulder in confusion. "He is right behind-" He trailed off the moment he realised his brother was not there. Then his eyes checked the street, but didn't seem to find anything because the little boy took a sharp breath.

This did tell Scott something though; he could be very perceptive, especially when it came to his younger brothers. He gripped the redhead's shoulders, forcing him to focus through the tears that were now making their way to the surface. "There was a car, wasn't there? Was John in a car?"

Gordon could only nod, his eyes wide in the still present confusion.

"What happened, Gordon?" Scott pushed. This was important. He needed as much information as he could get. If he could pass it on to the police in time then maybe they could track down their brother before he completely disappeared form the radar again.

"He said he'd be right behind me…" Gordon cried. "I had to go first, because otherwise the man wouldn't let us at all…"

This told Scott more than it had ever made sense to the little redhead. The man had never planned on letting John go and John, being the big brother he was, had played along, so his brother would be safe. But why? Why would kidnapper give up one of his victims? One of his so-called bargaining chips?

"Shhhh." He soothed his brother, as the redhead only began to cry harder. "It's going to be okay. We're going to get-"

"It's not okay!" Gordon suddenly screamed, before burying his face in his surprised brother's shirt. A lot of children were looking at them now.

"Heey, you!" Scott gathered the attention of one of the younger kids nearby. "Go get a teacher, will you?" The kid considered following the order, but decided to let Scott's tone slide and ran off towards the building.

"It's not okay." Gordon repeated, softer this time. 'John said it all the time but it was not okay, not really. It was only okay because he was Not-John and the bad guy couldn't know he was a half alien and then sometimes they fought but Super-John wasn't a very good superhero because he always lost, but he said he had really won and… No!'

The boy's face went white, while a knot formed in Scott's throat at the new information. The last time he had heard something John had seemed relatively fine. But that had been over a week ago. The blond had only been on the first tape, although the police suspected he had been present when the second video, with Gordon on it had been made; because the little boy's eyes had kept gliding of to the sides for reassurance.

"Gordon?" Scott shook him a little. "Gordon, what are you talking about?"

Gordon only pulled up his shirt and pulled out John's notebook. "I still have the secret book." He cried. "Now he has no powers…"

Scott didn't get most of what Gordon said, but he did feel the gravity of the situation, but if this was a notebook John had kept a secret from their kidnapper, there could be something important in there. He opened it and stared at the weird writing.

"You can read it, right?" Gordon asked softly. "John said he taught you. He couldn't teach me yet because I couldn't read earth words yet."

The kid arriving with a few teachers interrupted them.

"Scott?" Ms Collins, his homeroom teacher, said. "What's going on? I didn't know you'd be at school today."

Scott gestured towards Gordon. "My brother suddenly showed up, miss. One of the two who've been missing for eleven days." He added to clarify the situation.

The teachers exchanged glances. Ms Collins took command. "Get the children inside."

The children were rounded up and guided inside. Scott's friends showed back up but hadn't found anything. They were then, too, sent inside by miss Collins, who was calling the police at the same time.

Ms Collins tried talking to Gordon as well, but couldn't get anything out of him. With some help from Scott they got a car description, which was immediately passed on to the police.

When she hung up she passed the phone to Scott. "Call your father, Scott, I think he'd like to hear this from you."

Scott agreed, but pulled out his own phone. "Dad's a little paranoid these days. We've all got one now." He explained. "Grandma only just kept him from giving Alan one too."

The phone had only ringed one time before his father picked up. "Scott? Is everything okay?"

"Dad," Scott's voice caught in his throat. There was no right way to say this. "I've got Gordon here."

He heard Jeff take a deep breath. "Gordon? How do you mean…?"

"I was talking to some friends at school and he suddenly ran up to me."

"John?" His father asked.

"He's not here. He was, but we think the kidnapper took him again."

"Can I talk to him?"

"Of course, here he comes." Scott held the phone out for Gordon, who took it hesitantly.

"Gordon?" Scott could hear his father say. "Are you okay, squirt?"

Gordon, however, just started sobbing again and pushed the phone back to Scott.

"It seems he doesn't want to talk, dad." Scott informed his father. "John said he would be right behind him and Gordon has been upset ever since he found out he wasn't."

"Okay, son. Keep an eye on him for me, would you?" Jeff gave a small sigh. It sounded like a combination of relief, worry, disappointment, confusion and Scott also detected a hint of fear. "I'll inform the police officers on your brothers case and then head you way."

"And grandma, don't forget grandma."

"I wouldn't dream of it, son." There was a small humorous undertone in his voice that Scott hadn't heard in days. "But you know she "accidentally" forgets the cell phone I got her every single time she leaves the house…"

"Grandma sure doesn't like the new technology." Scott mumbled. Their grandma did have a cell phone, only it was some old model that didn't have any reception most of the time, but she simply refused to replace it.

"Well, I think I'll give her a call anyway. That way she can't blame me for not informing her."

"Dad, do you think it's okay for me to pick Virgil and Alan up from their schools? I don't want to leave them out of this…"

"I don't want you two wandering around on your own, Scott, not until this… man is caught."

"Miss Collins is here." Scott tried. He really wanted to tell his other brothers the good news. Alan would be over the moon now he had his favourite playmate back. Until the news about John would also be disclosed that was. And maybe being surrounded by family would calm Gordon down too. "She's my homeroom teacher. Would it be okay if she comes?"

"Have the police already been called?" Jeff asked.

"Miss Collins did…" He caught the woman's eyes. "When will they be here?"

"Any moment." The middle-aged woman answered.

"Soon." Scott relied. "Maybe they can drive us there. Because I think they might freak out if they're picked up by strangers."

"Then you arrange it with them." His father told him. "Just make sure to text me when you get there so I can find you when I arrive."

Scott assured his father he would and then they hung up.

"Ms Collins?" A voice came from nearby. Both Scott's and Ms. Collins heads shot up.

Timothy Jackson was standing a couple of meters away. He was a classmate of Scott's, though they had never really liked each other. Scott was the captain of the baseball team, while Timothy was the head of the school Math team. He had the best grades in the entire class, but was sometimes challenged by Scott. It seemed like he couldn't stand Scott most of the time, without any real reason, although the baseball team thought it was because Scott was the living proof people could be good in both sports and academics. The math team most certainly shared this opinion, and the baseball team didn't like the attitude that came with it, placing them diametrically opposed to each other. There hadn't been any fights yet, but they couldn't help letting the other know what they thought every now and then.

"Timothy?" Ms. Collins scolded. "What are you doing out of class?"

Timothy held up a card. "I've got a hall pass."

"Last time I checked, having a hall pass still didn't permit anyone to leave the school building."

"Is it true that is the youngest of Scott's missing brothers?" Timothy asked, ignoring the remark miss Collins had made.

"That is none of your business, Mister Jackson." Miss Collins replied. "Now get back to class. We'll have a talk about this later…"

"I think I saw him arrive."

The remark, that sounded almost random, made the teacher go quiet.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, being the first to recover.

"I always liked John. He has a good set of brains. I haven't had time to test it myself, but Annie said so." Scott was confused, if not a little bit agitated. Annie was one of his old classmates in elementary school. She was attending the same middle school, but had been placed in another class. She was now part of the math team.

This talk seemed to go nowhere. Timothy had always had a problem focussing when it mattered. He also tended to forget others did not always have the same level of intelligence, or just the same knowledge, he possessed. "She told me he got ahead of his age in second grade and the teachers were never able to put him back. I was going to ask him to try out for the math team. He'd be the youngest member we'd had in years."

"What did you mean when you said you saw Gordon arrive, Timothy?" Ms Collins interrupted the boy.

"I didn't recognise him at first." Timothy mumbled, clearly annoyed by being interrupted in the way he had been. "Something seemed off though. The girls face wasn't right. Then the kid got out."

He pointed at Gordon and the redhead lifted his head to look at him.

"I think he was wearing a wig. Right?"

"He made Johnny look all funny." Gordon piped up unexpectedly. Remembering something due to what Timothy said. He was almost smiling at the memory. "He looked like a girl."

"So no one would recognise him." Scott concluded out loud.

Ms Collins walked over to Timothy and lowered herself until she was at eye-level. She put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Timothy, listen to me, this is important, so you need to focus. You saw the car with John and the kidnapper in it, is that right?"

The boy nodded.

"Did you memorise the licence plate?"

Timothy shook his head and the teacher sighed in disappointment. At the same moment two police cars rounded the corner with flashing lights, but without the siren.

"I didn't need to. I've got an eidetic memory."

 **It was pointed out to me that I apparently leave people on cliffies a lot. Sorry about that, but for some reason they really are the best way to end a chapter.**

 **Three chapters left now. I'll see you all next week!**


	5. Chapter 5

**It's Tuesday again! So here is Hero chapter Five! :)**

 **Once again thanks to my beta for giving me great pointers! All remaining mistakes have and will always be mine. Shame the same can't be said of the characters.**

 **I don't own Thunderbirds**

The police had only needed a few minutes to take control of the situation. The street was now blocked off and officers were searching the neighbourhood for any clues. The spot Timothy had pointed out, where the car had been parked earlier was being searched as well, although nobody actually expected to find anything there. After all, Gordon seemed to have been the only one to leave the car. Their biggest hope was on finding the car itself, of which they now knew the licence plate.

Scott had asked the officers if they could be brought to Virgil and Alan's schools, but that was going to take a while. First evidence needed to be collected. And this included Gordon's clothes. Luckily, Scott had still some PE gear in his locker in the gym, so the boy didn't need to be naked, even if Gordon was one of those people who couldn't care less. It was then that the writing on Gordon's thigh was discovered. Scott recognised John's handwriting and couldn't help crying at that point, but he quickly got a hold of himself again.

The clothes were way to big, of course. But some rope did wonders for the wide pants to stay up. The clothes looked really baggy, but, despite not being a girl, Scott had to admit his little brother looked 'really cute' with the big cap falling over his eyes again and again. Gordon had insisted on wearing the cap, even though it wasn't necessary at all.

It was in the locker-room that the questions had started. Scott recognised the procedure from his own experience years ago. The cops asked the questions Scott and Ms Collins hadn't asked yet. Details about the kidnappers appearance, about the place they'd been held, about the man's behaviour, and he knew there would also me some about John later. Scott's blood ran cold when a particular question was asked.

"Did the man touch you? Somewhere you didn't like?"

Scott had had that question too, all those years ago, and he had answered it wrong. Of course the kidnappers had touched him, they had pulled him into a van after all. That had hurt, so of course he hadn't liked it. But he hadn't added that part to his answer. He had just said yes. A rookie officer had drawn the wrong conclusions and hell had broken loose. It had taken the people involved some time to figure out what he had meant and then the storm had died down. Scott hadn't gotten what it was about until he remembered and researched it a little over a year ago.

"He grabbed me once." Gordon replied in a small voice. "My arm hurt, but then Super John got all mad and he had to let me go but then he won and he got me again but John said something and we went to talk to the video together, but John couldn't be in it. His arm always hurt after that."

Scott caught an exchange of looks between the officer and Ms Collins. It seemed like they didn't know whether to be relieved or worried about this new piece of information. Then they stared at Scott, whose face must have shown some emotion as well, in pity.

"He broke his arm." Scott concluded, not specifying the 'he' on purpose, while trying to keep the horror out of his voice. "Did he hurt you again after that?"

"John told him not to."

"And he listened to that?" The officer asked in surprise.

Gordon nodded. "John said it was a deal. We had to listen and the bad guy wouldn't hurt me."

All adults as well as Scott caught on to the 'me'.

"Oh, Johnny…" Scott whispered under his breath.

"And your brother? Did the man do anything bad to him? To John?" The man clarified when he realised his choice of words wasn't very clear to the child, since there was another of the kid's brothers in the room.

Gordon started crying at that. "He hit Johnny all the time. And John said he liked to say mean things to him too. Like really mean things. He wouldn't tell me. He said only Not-John could know those and he wasn't him when I asked. "

Scott recalled Gordon had said something about different kinds of John's before and relied this too the adults, but in reality he was just as confused about that as they were.

The officer got up. "I'm going to consult with my colleagues, and then we'll see about getting you to your little brothers' schools. Are you sure you don't just want us to pick them up."

Scott shook his head. "Virgil will panic if a police officer shows up. He has this idea in his head they always bring bad news. And he won't go with a stranger. Neither will Alan and he will consider even policemen strangers."

"Okay, I'll see you outside." The man nodded in understanding and left the room.

It didn't take long before they got the go ahead. The same officer that had questioned Gordon in the locker-room, Scott had remembered his name was Kent, came with them, along with one of his colleagues and Ms Collins. Scott was glad Virgil's classroom wasn't at the front, because the police car attracted quite some attention from the children behind the glass.

Gordon's class, however, was, but Scott suspected they wouldn't recognise him in the baggy clothes he was wearing, and with the baseball cap concealing his characteristic red hair. They made it into the building without the children finding out, although they did get a strange look from his head teacher, who had stopped her attempts to get the children back in their seats. Gordon just acted uncharacteristically meek for his doing.

Scott lead the way to Virgil's classroom, which he almost knew by heart from the times he had offered to pick his younger brothers up from school. The unnamed new officer had left them shortly after their entrance to go and talk to the principle.

"I think it's better if I go inside on my own." Scott told the two adults when they halted in front of the door. "He will get frightened if it's a stranger, but if I bring Gordon in unexpectedly…"

"The shock might be too much for him." The police officer supplied, nodding. "I think you're right."

Gordon, who was almost physically attached to Scott, like he had been ever since he had realised he lost John, looked up. "What do you mean, Scotty?"

"You have to stay here with Ms Collins for a while and I go and get Virgil, okay?"

Gordon shook his head viciously. "I want to stay with you…"

"It's only for a little moment, Gordy." Scott pushed. "Ms Collins is very nice. She's my teacher, remember."

"I don't know her." Gordon sounded almost panicked now. "She's a stranger."

Scott froze. Apparently the extreme fear of all strangers wasn't something only Virgil and Alan experienced. It wasn't unexpected though. He made a quick assessment. If he took Gordon into Virgil's class, the shock might be too much for Virgil. He imagined it would be anyway, because even if he would just be happy to find Gordon was back, finding John was still missing would be an entirely different story. And if the kid would have a breakdown in front of his classmates, Scott just knew he would be ashamed of it later. The other option, leaving Gordon, was even worse though. He had only a little knowledge of what the kid had been through exactly, but he expected him to panic if he was left alone with two strangers. Even if Scott would be back with Virgil within a minute, Gordon's distress in that situation could affect Virgil's reaction for the worse.

"Miss Collins, I changed my mind, could you go in my place please?" Scott asked, hugging Gordon close.

The woman looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure, Scott? I don't think he knows me that well…"

"Yes, but we'll have to take that risk. If Gordon panics, it will be even worse…" He thought for a second. "I'll send him a text. If he doesn't believe you, you should just tell him to use his phone."

The woman nodded, turned, then hesitated and turned back to her younger charge. "I never knew you could act so… grown up, Scott. For a moment there… I thought I was talking to an adult."

Scott's face was dead serious, even though he shrugged while giving his reply. "For my brothers, I'll do anything."

"You know… In some strange way, it suits you." She said, before deciding the subject should be better of closed. "Should I tell him you're out in the hallway?"

"That would be best, I think. He might feel safe enough to at least take a look."

His homeroom teacher nodded and stepped forward to knock on the door. She exchanged some words with who Scott assumed was Virgil teacher and then took a few steps inside and out of view.

The soft voices in the class reminded Scott of the text he still needed to send. He added a stupid little nickname Virgil hated for good measure. He was almost immediately rewarded when he heard footsteps headed into his direction.

A few seconds later, Virgil appeared. The kid carefully stepped into the hallway, and put his hands put firmly on his hips when he spotted his oldest brother. "Scott? What does this mean? I hope you have a good reason…"

He stopped death in the middle of his last sentence. The next word he uttered was barely a whisper. "Gordon…"

In the blink of an eye Virgil had crossed the distance between them and had engulfed the six-year-old in a big hug. Scott saw how the tears started flowing over Virgil's face as he held his immediate younger brother close. Gordon hugged him back just as tightly.

Scott hadn't truly noticed his brother had squeezed his eyes shot in the moment until he opened them again. The sudden confusion in them was hard to miss and it was directed straight at his oldest brother.

"Where is John?" He whispered, dread for the answer slowly dripping in.

Scott forces himself not to look away, like the adults did, and had to force himself to speak the words. "He's still missing. He got Gordon out, but was taken again. From what Gordon says, I think he told him to bring Gordon to my school. We don't know why…"

Virgil nodded slowly and his eyes filled with a newfound hope. Gordon was still pressed against him, and not yet struggling to break free.

"And there is a bigger chance at finding him now." Scott went on, trying to reassure his middle brother. "Timothy Jackson from my class saw them leave."

"The mean nerd?"

Ms Collins gave Scott a stern look. She got an awkward smile in return. "Turns out he's not that mean. He remembered the licence plate and gave it to the police. He seems to like John a lot."

Officer Kent, who was standing behind Scott, nodded. "We don't think he counted on anyone to realise what happened soon enough. Timothy didn't either at first. We only got the plate number because he has an eidetic memory."

"So you'll find him this time?" Virgil asked hopefully, but every adult had gotten the message. The police had failed to find his brothers before; they could easily do so again.

"We're doing our best, son." Officer Kent told him.

"How about Alan?" Virgil suddenly changed the subject. "Are we going to get him too?"

"You can go, with some adult supervision of course, but Gordon will be staying here." Virgil's principle mingled herself into the conversation. "Your father will be here shortly and the police have decided the pre-school next door isn't the right place to keep you safe. The police also might have some more questions for your younger brother."

Scott nodded. "I will go…"

Gordon reacted before he even got to finish that sentence, letting go of Virgil and clinging on to Scott again.

"I can go." Virgil offered. "If there is an adult with me, there should be no problem for you to stay here with Gordon, right?"

Scott and Virgil looked each other straight in the eyes for some time. Then Scott exchanged a glance with Ms Collins and nodded.

"You better go get Alan." He confirmed. "I'll stay here, but maybe Ms Collins would like to come."

The teacher nodded. It was decided she and officer Kent would accompany Virgil to the pre-school, while Scott and Gordon stayed with the other officer and the principle in the latters office.

It didn't take Virgil long. Within fifteen minutes he was back, with the four-year-old on his hand. Alan let out a shriek of excitement when he saw his favourite playmate. He made a run for Gordon and gave the four-year-old a hug and a kiss on the cheek. His older brother, who muttered something about kisses being girly and grandma-y did not receive the latter very happily.

Then Alan started looking around like a lost little boy and Scott saw the question on the little boys mind before he asked it.

"Hey, where's Johnny?"

Gordon froze, making Alan look at his oldest brother in surprise. Scott had thought he was ready for it this time, but when he opened his mouth to answer he found himself closing it again, lost for words.

This time it was Virgil who answered. "He is not here yet, Allie."

"Why?" The blond asked with his innocent blue eyes longing to understand what the older ones were telling him. He looked so much like John at that point that Scott's eyes streamed full of tears.

But he couldn't let them fall. Not now. Not while his brothers were there.

"They found Gordon first because he's younger. But I'm sure they'll find Johnny soon." Scott lied. He was all but sure. The longer time dragged on, the more afraid he became that the man had gotten away once again.

"Okay." Alan smiled an innocent smile. He had just gotten one of his brothers back, and his oldest brother had told him the other one would return soon. In his eyes there was no longer anything to worry about. Scott almost gave in to the urge to cry at his brother's innocence.

Then there was a hand on his shoulder. And two arms around his chest. Ms Collins and Virgil were each comforting him in their own way. He wrapped his arms around his younger brother and they both let their silent tears flow. His age normally would have made Virgil to young to understand, but they had been through this kind of waiting before and Virgil remembered perfectly clear. The waiting had jogged a memory of the waiting before they had been told their mother was no longer with them. And this felt just like that.

They watched their younger brothers play. Alan had packed his cars in his backpack before going to school and was now playing with Gordon. Ever since the kidnapping, he had starting packing Gordon's favourite car as well, a yellow one that was oddly shaped like a fish, every time they had to go somewhere.

At least Gordon was doing better now. Alan distracting him seemed to be all he needed to calm down from the events of earlier in the morning. The two were happily chattering and even arguing every now and then, like they always did.

Then an opening door interrupted their play. Scott and Virgil jumped, but there was nothing to worry about. Their father had arrived.

Alan's happy cry of "Daddy!" went ignored. Jeff brushed past him and went straight for Gordon, hugging him close, like his life depended on it. Gordon started crying again but was hanging on just as tight.

Scott got up and caught the pouting Alan in another hug. Quietly, he explained to the kid why their father wanted some time with Gordon now. Alan was entirely satisfied when some later he got a hug too, just like Virgil and Scott, the latter also had a whispered conversation with his father about what exactly happened that morning.

Grandma turned up not long after Jeff, mumbling something about stupid cell phones and speeding tickets. When they were complete, but not quite, Scott couldn't help but think, they were loaded in a police car and brought over to the police station once again. But not before Gordon's teacher busted into the office to check if her suspicions were true.

It was only in the police car, when the written message of the kidnapper had been uncovered, that Scott remembered the second notebook. He and Virgil then set to deciphering it, despite the chances getting motioning sickness doing so. Virgil, who had been more into writing the code than Scott had been at the time, was able to decipher it quicker than his older brother, but was stopped by the officers and his father when the content started to upset him too much. The beatings and injuries where described in a lot of detail and the adults had realised this too late. The kidnapper also seemed to have threatened John with a lot of things, mostly killing both him and Gordon in horrible ways. The journal made it seem like John let all the comments slide off, but Scott knew his brother better than that.

But just as detailed as that was the description of the kidnapper's appearance. Officer Kent suspected the journal would suffice as evidence to put the kidnapper away for a long time. Scott couldn't help but suspect John had known that when he wrote it.

Scott was then told to explain to the officers how the code worked, so they could decrypt it for themselves. They picked it up soon enough. Each letter was, after all, simply two times the original letter written through each other and then made into one swift movement, so it wouldn't be obvious. It was meant to be the oldest Tracy brother's 'secret' writing after all.

When that was done, he was taken back to his brothers, but only briefly. His grandmother and father had disappeared off with Gordon and some other officers just after they had arrived at the station, their father only returning for a little while to help calm Virgil down when had another breakdown over the content of the writing. To Scott's surprise, he arrived back again for Scott to be taken for his statement. The police had forgotten to do that at the scene in their haste to get a search going.

On his way there, they ran into Timothy and his parents, who had to be there for the police to take his statement. Once Scott had explained to Jeff who they were, his father lost no time thanking them, and especially Timothy for their cooperation with the police for trying to find his second eldest. The Jacksons declined any kind of reward Jeff was willing to offer them if their help led to his second son being returned home safe and sound.

Timothy just wanted John to try out for the math-team. This surprised Jeff completely.

Scott later told his father he suspected it was Timothy's way saying he liked John and wanted to be friends with him. The child was a genius, if a bit odd, who could easily attend university in the future. Everybody knew though, that his parents were struggling. They wanted to give their son every chance in life, but didn't have the money. While he was telling his father what he knew about the Jacksons, Scott suddenly wondered if that was the real reason Timothy didn't seem to like him: Because even if he wasn't the smartest kid in school, he still had so many chances in life. Jeff briefly started playing around with the idea of a scholarship before the agents came in and Scott's statement was finally taken.

It was almost in the early hours of the morning when the door was opened, maybe a little to loud, by officer Kent. Scott, like the rest of the room's occupants, had been snoozing, but years of experience with little brothers make him jerk awake at the sound. His father was already standing and even Alan and Virgil appeared to be awake, which was quite exceptional. After all, it was supposed to be impossible for a four-year-old to be awake at this hour and Virgil, if not shook awake, usually didn't wake until the sun was well at its highest point.

But now they were all staring at the officer, who finally spoke the words they had been longing to hear for days now. Although back then, the last one had been plural, but grammar didn't matter anyway, because they only saw the smile on Kent's face and knew the words before he spoke them.

"We found him."

 **And I'm leaving you again… I've got some good and bad news first though.**

 **Due to stuff, I won't be able to update next Tuesday (no internet access for a little under a week), so the next chapter will probably be posted next Saturday or Sunday. The seventh, and last, chapter will still be posted in precisely two weeks, but it will probably feel like a much longer because of the difference in time between those last two chapters.**

 **Sorry!**

 **Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**It's Sunday and here is the next chapter of Hero!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **I don't own Thunderbirds.**

"I don't get it, dad!" Scott wanted to yell, but stopped himself at his father's grave expression. He just managed to make it sound more like a plea than a demand. "He was found three days ago! Why can't we go see him?"

Scott was standing at the bottom of the stairs. His brothers were already up and in bed, but he was still awake since he was older. The time between their bedtimes seemed longer than ever now John wasn't there to fill the time gap between Scott and Virgil's.

Jeff took a deep breath. "You know why, Scott. Your brother attained excessive injuries and the doctors haven't cleared him yet. You know that."

Scott's blue eyes turned to ice. They all knew that. After the first news of John retrieval, there had been a large 'but'. One of which officer Kent hadn't yet known all the details when he first informed them. With the information extracted from Timothy Jackson, Scott, and Gordon and John's notebook, the police had finally cornered the kidnapper, but the man was revealed to have a gun making things more difficult. The standoff eventually ended in a gunfight, with John right in the middle of it. He hadn't been hit by bullets, but had been manhandled while being used as a living shield to keep the police at a distance nonetheless. In the end an agent had managed to get a shot off, which killed the kidnapper on the spot. Scott had been the only one of the children who had gotten those last pieces of information.

"But you and grandma can!"

Jeff had left for the hospital immediately after the news, but when a phone call for grandma came some time later she had left the room, and later been all secretive about it. Afterwards she had gathered the boys, but took them home instead of to John. The next day their father had given some explanation about the injuries, but for some reason Scott didn't buy it. His father was keeping something from them.

"Scott." Grandma gave him a warning glance. "We told you…"

"I'm too young and energetic and it would be to much for him, I know, but I can be quiet! So can the others if you explain it to them. Gordon needs to know Johnny's really back and so do Virgil and Alan!" He couldn't help raising his voice now, but it tailed of to a whisper afterwards. "I just want to see if he's all right…"

The adults exchanged brief glances. His father reached out for him. "Scott…"

"Leave me alone!" He lashed out angrily, storming up the stairs. He knew it wasn't very mature to take his frustration out on his father, especially since he was having a hard time as well, but he decided that right now he didn't particularly care. His father was keeping something from him and he was determined to find out what.

He quickly made his way up to the roof, John's spot.

It was true he had listened in on the argument between the officer and his father, almost a few weeks back, by accident, but this time he had opened the windows deliberately. His father had only just arrived back from the hospital and he knew his grandmother would be carving for news.

He sat down and focussed on the voices that floated up to the roof.

"…leave him be for tonight Jeff." He could hear his grandmother say. "He's struggling just as much as you are, they all are."

"But he resisted my affection entirely…" There was a deed sigh. "I guess he just reminded me…"

"How was it at the hospital?"

"No change." The amount of emotion in Jeff's voice was strange. Scott had never heard his father so broken before. "I'm almost starting to lose hope…"

Scott's blood went cold. John seemed to be much worse than he had thought. Than he had been told.

"What is it, Jeff?"

"It's just something the doctors said." Jeff swallowed. "They said that… sometimes… people just… break. They curl up into a ball, totally unaware of the world outside, because they have simply given up. Then sooner or later their body functions follow and they…"

Scott brought his hands up over his ears. He didn't want to listen anymore. This was only making him feel worse than he already had. He knew he should probably listen to the end of the conversation, in a chance there would be something there that could make him feel better again, but he just couldn't.

He climbed down from the roof and made his way into his own room. He didn't bother to turn on the light, or change for that matter, and dropped himself on his bed.

He had to admit he was slightly surprised when his covers fought back.

"What the…" He jumped off, and switched on the small nightlight as quickly as he could. "Virgil!"

"Did you have to jump on your bed." The kid groaned, rubbing whatever body parts Scott had accidentally landed upon, which were most of them.

"Did you have to be on my bed?" The older of the two countered.

"I heard you arguing."

"Oh."

"And Gordon and Alan won't go back to sleep."

Scott's face fell. "They heard too?"

"Partly, but they were already awake. Gordon just has to return John's notebook." Virgil and Scott had both read the explanation John had given Gordon about their situation, back when they had been imprisoned. They had tried to explain to the redhead that his brother had told him a lie to protect him, but Gordon wouldn't hear any of it. "He says he has some good reason. I can't talk them out of it."

"But the notebook is evidence. It's stored at the police station…"

"Yeah…" Virgil pulled a face. "About that…"

Scott's eyes went wide and he let his hand slide over his face. He remembered Gordon being called to the police office again for some more questions only yesterday. "Please tell me he didn't..."

"Okay, then I won't tell you."

Scott sighed. "I'll talk to him…"

They crossed the hall together, making their way into Gordon and Alan's room. The two jumped to hide, but it wasn't much use, due to the fact that just the light being turned on when it was supposed to be off, as they were supposed to be asleep, gave them away. So the two little guilty-looking boys just came out from under their blankets, backpacks fastened on their backs.

"And where are you going?" Scott asked in his big-brother-voice.

Gordon planted his hands firmly on his sides. "We're going to John. And you won't be able to stop us!"

"Uh-hu!" Alan added, mirroring his older brother's pose.

Scott exchanged a glance with Virgil, who shrugged in a didn't-I-tell-you manner. Scott thought for a minute and then threw his hands up.

'You know what." He said, deciding to change tactics entirely. "I'm coming with you."

Three mouths fell open in surprise.

"Scott!" Virgil called out. This was not at all what he had hoped his older brother would do.

Scott suddenly realised he was actually serious about this. He had been repeatedly told his brother was all right and listening to his father and grandmother talk had made him doubt that. Facts were contradicting and he couldn't make sense of it anymore. He just had to see for himself.

"Are you coming or not?" Scott asked Virgil, a dead serious look on his face.

"None of you should be going!" The nine-year-old protested.

Scott turned his back on his middle brother. His mind was already organising the entire trip. "Gordon, get your winter coat out of your closet, it will be cold outside and we won't be able to go downstairs to get your other one. You too, Alan."

"Why can't I have my normal one?" Alan asked in confusion.

"We're going down the tree. If we wait until Dad and Grandma go to bed the bus drivers will get suspicious." The youngest nodded and set out to search his closet.

"I'm going to get my wallet and coat. Meet me in John's room." And he walked out of the room, leaving his brothers to their tasks. Virgil ran after him.

"Scott." He almost yelled, but a glance from Scott stopped him. It read: Make-a-scene-causing-the-adults-to-come-up-to-stop-me-and-you'll-regret-it. Virgil stepped back in shock, trying to stop a shiver from running down his spine.

Scott realised he was frightening his younger brother, who was unfamiliar with this side of him, and changed attitudes.

"I need to see him, Virgil." He whispered. "I need to see for myself he's fine. And you can deny it, but you need to see him too."

Virgil bowed his head. "Okay… I'll come."

"Thanks, Virge."

"But only to make sure you stay out of trouble."

Scott couldn't supress a grimace. That was John's line.

Climbing out of the window using the tree took some work for the four brothers, but it was an easy tree. John had been using it to get to the roof since he was seven. They were extra careful with Alan, but managed to get him down between the three of them just fine.

They ran into some trouble with the bus driver anyway. It was already some past ten o'clock after all. But Scott managed to spin a story about them missing the last bus, which had been due an hour ago, because he had to finish a game at his friend's house and made it sound like his parents wouldn't care about his irresponsible behaviour at all. It worked in his favour that to some people, he looked way older than thirteen.

At the hospital they found an unanticipated problem however: They didn't know what room John was in.

"I don't get why we do not just ask?" Virgil said, when they had found the children's wing while avoiding the staring glances of the adults. They had taken refuge behind some equipment stored in a staircase to work out what to do now.

"They'd call dad before we even get to see him. And he won't be happy."

"We can search all the rooms?" Gordon proposed shifting from one foot on the other and back again. He was, at the moment, a weird combination between hyper and sleepy.

"We'll probably run into a nurse."

"The red door!" Alan suddenly said, pointing to the end of the hallway opposite of the staircase they were currently in. "Daddy told Grandma they moved Johnny to the room at the end of the hall with the ugly red door."

Scott spied around the container he was hidden behind and found the door Alan was talking about. "That is indeed an ugly shade of red."

"Could be another floor." Virgil pointed out. "Or another hallway."

"It's better than nothing." Scott decided.

The youngest two nodded, happy to finally have some action.

"Okay, here is the plan." Scott told his brothers. "We're going to sneak to the opposite staircase and then you are going to hide, while I check the room. But be careful, we don't want to get caught in the children's ward. They'll probably think we're patients here."

"Just tell them you're John and they'll bring you right back to his room." Virgil smirked.

"Maybe. But if he's in there it won't take them long to figure out we lied and they'll call dad."

"But at least we got to see him."

"Good point." Scott mused. "That'll be plan B. If we get caught you get to be John and we'll be your brothers who came to break you out of here… Quickly, she isn't looking!"

They slipped out of the stairwell, past the receptionist, who was happily chatting with one of her colleagues over the phone, and into the stairwell on the opposite side of the corridor.

"Okay," Scott said. "Now you stay here while I check out the room. Virgil is in charge."

"Aaah." Two voices chorused, but Scott had already closed the door behind him. He slipped through the door with ease.

The room was dark and silent. The blinds were down but they couldn't stop the moon peaking right through.

Scott had no eye for the moon however, but only for the blond on the bed, who was staring at it.

John looked bad. He had been warned about that, but he couldn't help but realise just how bad it looked now he saw his brother for real. His arm was in a sling and his face showed quite a lot of bruising, as was the visible skin on his arms. Scott couldn't help but wonder how many more bruises there would be underneath the hospital nightgown.

"John." He whispered.

There was no reaction from the bed.

"John, are you okay?" Scott stepped closer. Maybe he was sleeping after all. Coming up closer he discovered he hadn't been mistaken though. John's eyes were indeed open.

"John?" He moved into his brother's vision. Maybe John hadn't heard him? His father had told him about the gunfight, maybe John had gotten hearing damage from the hard sounds. He located the panic button near the bed just in case.

He waved his hand in front of his brother's eyes. For a second they seemed to focus, but then it was gone again and Scott finally saw something he hadn't, or hadn't wanted to, notice before.

John's eyes were entirely devoid of emotion.

He took a step back.

 _No._

What had his father said again? There had been no change in John's condition when he left the hospital. Had his brother been like this even since he was found?

A snippet of conversation entered his mind. _They said that… sometimes… people just… break. They curl up into a ball, totally unaware of the world outside, because they have simply given up. Then sooner or later their body functions follow and they…_

They die.

One of his primary school teachers had once said that the body couldn't exist without the soul. He had been to young to truly understand her then, but now he could relate.

He didn't want to be able to relate.

Scott did a short sprint back to the door. It had been a mistake to come here. It had been an even bigger mistake to bring his brothers. He had to get them back home, preferably before his dad and grandmother found out about it, and forget about this whole ordeal. At least then he could pretend everything would be all right again.

But he couldn't do that. John was his brother! He couldn't just ignore what was going on! But the least he could do was protecting their younger brothers from this sight.

He made his way back to the staircase.

"He wasn't there." He lied. "This isn't going to work. We have to get home before dad and grandma find out we are gone."

"But… what about plan B?" Gordon protested. Scott had expected Alan to protest as well, but once glance at the kid confirmed he was asleep on his feet. Half past eleven was way past the four-year-olds bedtime. He got hold of the hands of the two boys and started to guide them down the staircase.

"You're lying." A voice suddenly said.

Scott froze. Why was Virgil being such a pain tonight?

"He is in there, isn't he?" Virgil went on. No hesitation evident in his voice, only some fear. "What did you see, Scott?"

Scott decided to argue. "Why are you being so stubborn tonight, Virge? First you don't want to come, now you don't want to leave."

"I know you're lying Scott." Virgil told him to his face, his frown displaying his anger clearly. "I'm not a baby anymore."

Scott realised to late that Gordon had pulled his hand out of his oldest brothers grip and made a run for the door.

"Gordon!" He yelled, only just managing to muffle most of the sound with his hands so the nurses wouldn't hear. When he wasn't able to grab Gordon in time, he gave his middle brother a mad glance. "Now look what you've done!"

They quickly went after Gordon, Scott pulling the now slightly more awake Alan with him. Gordon was already halfway to the bed when the others got in. Alan pulled his hand loose at the sight of John, trying to get to the brother he hadn't seen in weeks, but Virgil's reaction was entirely different. He was startled.

While Scott put an arm around the younger boy's shoulders, he wondered why it was the oldest of the three who was most effected by the sight of his older brother. But then he realised the answer was actually quite logical. Alan didn't know the meaning behind the bruises on his brothers face, he probably thought John had fallen or something, while Gordon must have gotten used to them when he and John were still in that room together.

"I'm sorry." Virgil cried. Scott instinctively knew what he was talking about. Virgil blamed himself for confronting his youngest brothers with the harsh truth.

"It's okay." Scott whispered in Virgil's ear. "I handled it wrong. It seems sometimes people have good reasons for lying. I learned that today as well."

In the meantime, Gordon and Alan had managed to climb onto the bed. Gordon was rumbling in his backpack. If he did notice John's unreactive state, he wasn't bothered by it, yet.

Alan, however, was. He was trying to get John's attention, to tell him something no doubt, but John seemed to be ignoring him. Alan didn't like to be ignored. Then again, John usually never did ignore him.

Virgil was the first to notice something was entirely wrong. He stared at Scott, asking a question with his mind.

Scott tried to give him a small reassuring smile, but the smile never made it to his face. Virgil buried his face into Scott's shoulder once more.

Gordon had finally found what he was looking for: John's notebook. Scott mentally face-palmed, as he had totally forgotten about that, but decided this wasn't the time to give Gordon a speech about not how bad it was to steal from the police.

"Look what I brought, Johnny." Gordon told his unresponsive brother happily. "It's the book of your powers. I kept it for you and now it's gonna make you all better again. Just like in the movies."

With that he put it in his brother's good hand and waited.

Nothing happened. John was still staring at the moon.

Alan did one last try to get John's attention and then set on crying. Scott let go of Virgil and lifted Alan of the bed, hugging him close.

"Johnny?" Gordon had started to grow concerned and was now pulling his good arm. "Johnny, wake up!"

"Gordon…" Scott tried, but he went ignored.

"Go away, Not-John!" Gordon had taken to shaking John now, but his eyes were still unresponsive. Even if he was in pain, John didn't show it. "Give me back my brother!"

"Gordon…"

"I want my brother back!"

Scott opened his mouth again, but did no longer have the hart to try and reprimand the younger boy.

"I want him to tell stories again and draw really bad-looking fish. And make me peanut-butter sandwiches. And read my mind. And show me pictures in his star book. And tell me dad's stories about the moon if he isn't there, because he knows them even better than dad now." Gordon let out a soul-clenching whine. "…I want him to teach me writing again even the letter J which is boring and…"

Then everything became too much for Gordon and he collapsed on the bed, crying, carefully avoiding John's bad arm in habit. Virgil was next to the bed, holding John's good hand, crying as well, and so was Alan in Scott's arms. Scott let himself fall back into the chair next to the bed to support the little boys weight better. Tears were bundling up in his eyes now too, but he couldn't let them fall.

But then he couldn't fight them either.

So while the tears were rolling down his cheeks, he did the only other thing he thought could possibly help John. He talked.

"You know, you aren't the only one to be affected by a kidnapping." Scott began. His voice was weak, but none of his siblings reacted to that. They were to far gone in their own grief. "I was too."

He couldn't help checking for a reaction in the blonde's eyes, and still found himself disappointed when he didn't get one.

"I know we both didn't seem that much affected until the whole classroom thing. And we weren't. It only came a few months later. After all, you never had to testify." He took a deep breath. "It was afterwards that the nightmares started. Remember the water bottle? You probably remember that you fell asleep after drinking out of it. I sure did. I gave you that water… and then you wouldn't wake up. I thought you were dead… Then they forced me to drink some as well and when I woke up, you were hanging over me, so I guessed it was all right… But I didn't know that then. I was supposed to protect you and I made you drink that water. I thought I killed you. I was so scared back then…"

Scott didn't even expect an answer anymore.

"They made me recount that during court. It never went away after that. Dad was really mad…" He sighed. Now that he was finally letting his fears out, he was growing more tired with the minute. Alan's breathing had evened out, confirming he had cried himself to sleep. He suspected Gordon and Virgil weren't doing a much better job at staying awake. "I got a lot of nightmares. I didn't want to sleep after that. Mum and dad watched over me at night for months. Luckily for you and Virgil, this was around the time we got our own rooms. Otherwise my screaming probably would have woken you too."

Gordon's soft whimpering had stopped, but he was still holding on to John for dare life.

"I still get them occasionally. Once or twice a year, maybe more. But that's not nearly as frequent as it used to be." He paused for a slight moment thinking on how to continue. "They're back now however. The doctor told dad it's probably because of the stress… I guess he's right. I even got a new one. I'm chasing after this van. And every time I get close, it speeds up again. You don't need to be an Einstein to figure out were that one came from."

There was another pause. A longer one this time.

"You see? It's not a sin to be affected by something like that. And I know you've been through worse this time… a lot worse. But that only makes it more acceptable to be affected."

Scott let out a violent sob, making Alan stir against his chest.

"I need you to come back to us John." He full-out cried now. "You have too. I need you! The squirts need you! Dad needs you! Fight it! I can't allow you to give up!"

"I'm begging you, John." He whispered, before the exhaustion also claimed him, as it had his brothers before him. "I'm begging you…"

 **Okay, so I might have have… kinda… forgotten to warn you I was ending it like this when I told you you would have to wait a little longer for the next chapter…**

 **Well, I'm off to hide in the north!**

 **I'll see you the next Tuesday after the next Tuesday with the final chapter of Hero!**


	7. Chapter 7

**It's finally Tuesday and as promised here is the final part of Hero.**

 **Many thanks to you all who read to story up to the end, double thanks to all those who reviewed and triple thanks to my beta, she knows who she is, who gave me some important pointers. And in case some mistakes where left behind, those are and always will be mine, unlike the characters in this story *sigh***

 **Lastly I wanted to mention (just in case) that I am neither a doctor or psychologist so I don't know John's condition is completely accurate, but I did base it off some things I've read about in the past.**

 **Now: Enjoy!**

When Scott woke, the first beams of daylight had already entered the room. If he hadn't been so confused as of where he was at first, he might have worried whether his father would kill him for leaving the house at night. Or most importantly: for not coming back.

His younger brothers were all still asleep in the same positions they had been in the night before. Scott was stiff from holding Alan, but didn't dare move in fear of waking the young boy.

John's eyes were open, though, making Scott wonder whether he had even closed them at all that night. Instead of out of the window, however, John was now staring downwards at Gordon, while stroking his red hair.

For a small moment, his nightmares of that night still fresh in his memories, Scott didn't notice. When he did, he suddenly got afraid he was imagining it, getting his hopes up for no reason.

Then, when John turned his head and their eyes locked, Scott let relieve flood him.

John's eyes contained life again. Not as much as they had before, but it was a great improvement against the all but dead stare from last night.

"John." He actually wanted to call out in happiness, but didn't get further than a soft sob.

"Hey." John replied. He sounded a little hesitant.

There was a little silence between them.

"Did he try to wake me up with the notebook?" John then asked, making the smallest gesture towards it, this way risking waking his little brothers with his movements.

"Yeah." Scott answered, not knowing what else to do in a situation like this. "He stole it back from the police."

"Oh."

"How are you feeling?" Scott whispered, before another silence could fall between them.

John shrugged. "Better, I think…"

Scott carefully waited for John to elaborate. His immediate younger brothers introvert personality made it so that the blond was easily over-screamed by his brothers, but if you gave him the chance to talk, he usually would. Whether you would be able to follow what he said, however, was another question.

"It's just… from the moment we pulled up again at school… everything went kind of mute. Which was a good thing, at first." John broke the eye contact en directed his attention back to stroking Gordon's hair. "I still did what the guy wanted me to do, but didn't feel scared anymore… I don't think I felt anything anymore. Then there was the… gunfight?... and it got even worse. It was like… I wasn't even there anymore. I remember… the kidnapper… using me as a hostage… to keep the police away, but…"

There was a short silence as Gordon stirred. Scott tried to hide how the way John was talking right now scared him. John always spoke in facts and the full sentences that came with them. Now he was speaking in broken ones, with a lot of pauses, not really thinking before he spoke. It was so unlike his oldest blond brother that it almost made him shiver. But he couldn't give in to that. John needed him now. And he needed his brother.

"I guess I really didn't care anymore. I mean… I think he placed a gun to my head, but it didn't matter to me whether I lived or died…" John continued when he was sure none of the kids had woken up and was therefor listening in. "I remember falling… and then voices… a lot of voices. They were screaming… and then talking to me. I heard them, but I couldn't really listen. Just like I saw, but couldn't really see either… I think it was like this mission-accomplished thing. I mean… Gordon was safe, so it didn't really matter what happened afterwards, right?"

"You matter to us too, John." Scott interrupted, though it wasn't really interrupting, since John had asked him a question. It only felt like that.

"I know." John said, still not looking up from his baby brother. "But Gordon mattered more to me."

There was nothing Scott could say to that. He always tended to put his brothers before himself as well.

"Was that what you meant, when you said you were being affected last time?"

"You heard?" Scott asked in surprise.

"Yeah."

Scott waited for an explanation, but when it became clear he wasn't getting one he countered with another question. "How much?"

John kept looking down. "All of it. It's like I told you… I heard, but I wasn't listening… But I do remember… I think my brain just stored it away something…"

"What else did you hear?"

"Dad, I think. And grandma. They tried to be strong all the time. They talked to me sometimes, …but mostly just sat with me after the first day. The doctors were the same…" John looked up for the first time in minutes. "Then I heard you. You all cried… that was the first thing that I actually heard… I think. Even you were crying. You never cry… So I had to come back, to protect you. It was just a lot harder than I thought…"

Scott felt his eyes water again. "I'm supposed to protect you…"

"The oldest protects the younger." John gave him a small smile that came close to the cheeky one he usually got, when he was about to correct someone or get the upper hand in a discussion. "You don't have an older brother, so that task falls to me."

"It shouldn't…"

"But it does." John cut him off. "And I can't leave it to Virgil yet."

A few seconds went by.

"You didn't answer my question."

"No." Scott shook his head. "It wasn't like that. I mean… I never got you away from them. We were taken and found together. I never 'accomplished' my mission."

"Was court really that bad?"

"It was the lawyers, mostly. The ones from the OM were nice. They gave me time to think about my answers and everything. The Defence… they asked trick questions and tried to make everyone think I was just a kid who was to young to testify. They made me doubt myself."

"Do you think I'll have to testify?"

Scott swallowed. This was a question he didn't want to answer, but he still did anyway. "I don't think there will be a trial."

"I know." John nodded. "I remember hearing the police talking too."

"I…"

"Scotty?" John sounded scared, younger than he had in years. "I don't think I'm okay this time…"

"Oh, Johnny." This time Scott didn't care if he woke his brothers. He got up, carefully placed Alan on the chair they had first shared, and hugged the younger boy as he started crying. He then whispered comforting words in his brother's ear.

Surprisingly, the younger three slept through the whole ordeal. It was only when John had stopped crying that Gordon started trashing around, like he always did before he woke. Scott untangled himself from John and settled on the side of the bed, only inches away from Virgil's head.

Gordon looked up and blinked his big eyes at John. "Johnny? That you?"

The tears on John's face hadn't entirely dried yet, but he put on a smile nonetheless. "Yeah, kiddo, it's me."

"Okay." The redhead mumbled, before snuggling back up to John again.

His older brothers chuckled. Same old Gordon.

Gordon's head shot back up in a second. "John!"

John gave him something closer to his signature grin, as he hugged the boy close. "Took you long enough."

"It worked! You're back! I told Alan it would work! Didn't I, Allie?" He looked around him to find his brother sleeping on the chair. "Alan!"

Virgil was the first to wake though. Gordon's screaming wasn't easy to sleep through. He was quick to realise the change in atmosphere too.

"John?" He asked, hope in his eyes.

"Hey Virge." John replied, as he was suddenly hugged from two sides now.

Alan was fully awake now too and trying to climb onto the bed, with little success due to his haste to get up there. Laughing, Scott lifted the pre-schooler to reach his objective; join into the group hug.

"Scotty!" Alan called out annoyed when Scott stood there watching his brothers hug with a smile on his face. "It's not a brother-hug without you!"

Virgil was the one to pull him in.

Scott didn't know how long they stayed that way, but it was Gordon who ended it, wiggling out of his brothers arms to tell John all about their nightly adventure.

"So you sneaked out?" John confirmed after a while. "Without dad, or Grandma, noticing? Then you got onto a bus and sneaked into the hospital, evading the nurses?"

"Uh-hu." Gordon nodded, a proud smile on his face.

John turned towards Scott. "You know it's after eight, right?"

Scott froze on the spot. And so did Virgil. Grandma always woke them for school at seven.

Scott cursed, was reprimanded by four different voices, and then cursed again.

Before he figured out what to do next, the door opened and his father and grandmother came running in.

They both breathed a sigh of relieve when they spotted the boys.

"Boys…" Their father panted, then the relief on his face was replaced with anger. "Do you have any idea what your grandmother and I…!"

"Hi dad."

"John…" Jeff Tracy breathed. It only took those two little words to make Jeff Tracy forget all about the lecture he had spent an entire car ride preparing for his sons. He all but ran up to his son and wrapped him in a strong hug. Grandma wasn't far behind.

Another unforgettable scene played out before Scott eyes and he made sure to picture it before joining in as well. Grandma and Jeff were hugging John, both from another side of the bed. Gordon was sandwiched between John and his father, protesting as hard as he could to avoid being squeezed. Alan was hanging on his grandmother's legs, his eyes closed and a happy smile on his face. Virgil, who had been sitting at Johns feet when the adults had come was now purged between the bodies his father and grandfather, almost making John disappear from view.

Once again Gordon was the one to break the silence, because he just had to tell the adults how he had healed John. The others let him.

Jeff even asked the doctors and nurses to stay away for a while, as they wanted to enjoy their time together a little longer. After all, their family was once again complete. As complete as possible anyway. But their mother was always with them in some way.

A little after nine, it became apparent how tired Alan actually was, so Grandma took him home to put him in bed. At that moment they also couldn't hold the doctors any longer and John was subjected to some tests. Scott, Virgil and Gordon were allowed to stay with him, but only until Jeff was done talking to the doctors and had filled in some forms. Virgil, who had always been interested in the medical side of things, had gone with their father, leaving Scott and Gordon alone with a very tired John, up until two nurses came to kick them out.

"I don't want to go." Gordon pouted. "I want to stay here with Johnny."

"Come on, kiddo." The first nurse told the redhead. "Your brother really needs to rest. He's still very weak."

"My brother is not weak." Gordon yelled out indignantly. "I healed him. He's a superhero."

"Why don't you tell me all about it?" She suggested cleverly, obviously knowing her way around stubborn children, using the distraction to lead him out of the room. "I'll bring you to your father and we'll talk on the way there, okay?"

"Okay." Gordon beamed happily, walking with her. "You see, he's got these superpowers. He can read you mind and stuff. He really can. He read my mind a few times. It's because he's actually half alien. He's the only one in our family who is. The rest of us don't have superpowers. Though Johnny says Scotty has big brother powers. But those are lame. They're so lame that when you would have a vote on the lamest powers in the entire world he would…"

When they could no longer hear Gordon's happy chatter in the hallway, the other nurse turned to Scott. "You too, young man."

Scott looked over to John, who was now fast asleep, reluctant to leave him by himself.

The nurse sighed. She seemed to be tired, making Scott wonder whether she had been part of the night shift. "So, what's your excuse going to be? Sure you're old enough to know your brother is not some kind of superhero…"

Scott, however, didn't laugh at the joke, like she might have expected him too.

"He saved _our_ world." Scott told her, just before he turned to exit the room. "He is my hero."

The End.

 **Well, that was it. I hoped you enjoyed the story. I've never dared to ask before, but don't be afraid to tell me what you thought. I've really come to love reviews!**

 **My beta pointed out I kind of left it at an open ending. I like to imagine the worst is over for John now and he will recover, although probably not as fast as he would have liked to. I'm not planning on writing a sequel however. I didn't have ideas on it as of yet and a sequel written just for it to be sequel usually turns out bad.**

 **Also, I have too many other ideas lined up to work out. I have two stories almost finished, but they are very very different from each other. And I can't decide which one to finish first. I might just finish them both and cross-post them. That will take some time longer however.**

 **Also, Also, school is starting again next week, severely limiting my writing time. Not that that ever stopped me though…**

 **Anyway, hopefully I'll see you in another story :)**

 **Greetings,**

 **BiSi Louise.**


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